Perfect World
by Kit3
Summary: WARNING: Yaoi. "Heero? What do you think it would be like...if the war had never happened..." An accident causes a rift between two lovers beyond the reach of space and time. But how do you return to reality? (1x2x1)
1. Date Night

Rating for language and suggestive comments.

This is an idea I've had for a long time and I really want to pursue even though there are a few plot problems I haven't quite figured out yet. For those of you who have read previous fics of mine and are furious at me, I apologize, but I am severely unhappy with my other stories at the moment. I don't have much time lately, but apparently I love pain – as evidenced by my attempting this. I have every intention of becoming a more responsible author. I'll even try to be better at answering reviews.

I'm not going to summarize the plot because you guys will figure it out within the first few moments of reading, I'm sure.

I own nothing. This fic is purely for my personal enjoyment, and the enjoyment of those who choose to read it. If you have a problem with me…can't say as I really care. Please don't waste everyone's time with rudeness.

Warnings: YAOI. There it is, the dreaded Y word. If you don't like it, click the back button and go find something else to read. For everyone else…enjoy, and thanks for taking the time to check me out. I'll try to make it worth your while.

(Please don't hold it against me if the chapter dividers fail to show up. I think that problem was fixed, but…)

Perfect World

Chapter 1

"And that. Can we get that, too? Oooh, and some of those?"

He glanced at the small teenaged boy, whose nose was currently pressed to the glass as he salivated over the colorful display of candies, and shook his head in mild amusement.

"Remind me again why we're here." He requested blandly.

His companion looked away from the display with a wide, enthusiastic grin nearly splitting his face. "Because last week you dragged me to that boring museum. And because I'm so much fun. And you'd follow me to the ends of the Earth and beyond. And you love me. Also because…!"

"All right, enough." He interrupted with a slightly annoyed grunt. "I'll buy the damn candy. Just _stop_."

"As long as you stop asking stupid questions you don't seem to know the answers to even though you should…"

He agreed to the deal with a sharp nod, turning his attention away from his friend as he pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. "We'll take a large popcorn with butter…"

"Extra butter!" He was interrupted.

"Extra butter." He amended with a sidelong glance at his companion. "We would also like one cherry coke, one large water, and a box of each the sour worms and the milk duds." He finished.

The girl behind the register, a sleepy and bored-looking teen, blinked a few times – obviously startled by either the monotone voice or the emotionless expression on his face. Or perhaps the surprise came from the sight of the bouncy boy with the extraordinarily long braid who was clutching the arm of said emotionless boy.

Heero didn't so much as blink as he handed over the ridiculous amount of money required for the purchase of snacks at the movies. Under most circumstances, of course, both he and Duo were highly frugal (cheap bastards, some would say) however, date night only came once a week, and date night was cause for the bending of all known rules. Embarrassing amounts of money were known to be spent, hours were often spent pursuing useless entertainments, and even their usually strict, unspoken 'no-public-displays-of-affection' rule was known to be broken on occasion. (Or, more accurately, completely thrown out the window the moment they stepped out of their apartment.)

The two gathered up their snacks and, ticket stubs in hand, went off in search of the theater their movie was being shown in.

"What are we seeing again?" Heero asked, peering with a frown at the signs handing above the theater doors.

Duo shrugged, already munching on popcorn and not bothering to help in his boyfriend's search. "Does it really matter?" He asked. Neither were very big movie fans – moving pictures simply weren't usually enough to keep the two former pilots entertained. "We're just gonna make out the whole time anyway. I say we choose door number three."

Heero nodded, actually seriously considering his point. He would have asked why they had even bothered coming if they didn't plan to pay any attention to the flick they had paid so extravagantly for, except he knew the answer. Duo loved going to public places and making a spectacle of the both of them, showing off their relationship. The better their chances of getting kicked out, the more he enjoyed himself. And Heero had to reluctantly admit that he too enjoyed the thrill.

They chose a door and went inside as the lights were dimming and the previews beginning.

"What do you say to us sitting in the front?" Duo whispered wickedly in his ear, breath warm on his skin. "We can make sure we disturb everyone else and completely ruin this movie for them forever."

Heero gave him a long, flat look.

"No."

"Fine, fine." Duo sighed, knowing perfectly well that arguing was pointless. "Back corner again, then. But I am _not_ staying quiet this time, you understand me?"

Heero stopped scanning the only half full theater and nodded, heading for the seats he had chosen for the two of them and trusting his lover would follow. Before him, Duo stopped abruptly and they nearly collided.

"How long are we going to wait before sneaking out for a quickie in the bathroom?" He asked a little too loudly, leaning back toward Heero.

The former soldier put his free hand on the braided boy's shoulder and gave him a gentle shove toward their seats. "I paid for this date, so that makes me the aggressor tonight." He said in a slightly less-than-cold voice. "That means, koibito, that I put the moves on you, not the other way around. There will be no warning, and there will be no schedule."

"Please." Duo puffed out his bangs in annoyance as he sat in his chair in an ungraceful sprawl. "Five minutes into this and your hand will be on my knee. Ten minutes and it will be on my thigh. Half an hour and the ushers will be asking us to leave. I _know_ you man." He grinned, putting his hand on Heero's leg as the prussian eyed teen sat beside him. "Are you going to try the whole stretching-then-putting-your-arm-around-me thing? Cause that was hot."

"You laughed at me." He grouched, still slightly embarrassed over that incident.

"Because I think you're cute when you try to be what your fucked up logic calls normal." He answered, squeezing his knee. "I like it when you try to be normal, I really do."

Heero frowned a moment, staring at the advertisements on the screen. His hand covered Duo's, fingertips lightly tracing against the soft skin of the back of his hand.

"What do you think it would be like?" He asked finally.

Duo blinked, tearing his gaze from the large screen to look at his lover. "Huh?" He managed around a mouthful of candy.

"Being normal." Heero clarified, already regretting bringing it up.

Duo stared at him a long moment, clearly surprised. "I dunno." He decided, settling back in his seat with a troubled expression on his face as he interlaced his fingers with his lover's. "I never really thought about it before."

"I think about it all the time." Heero informed him quietly, carefully not looking at the small American boy beside him. "I always wonder what it would be like without all this training up here." He continued, taking his hand away to tap at his temple with a finger, his good mood suddenly gone. "I tried to consider cost benefit analysis, but I'm still not certain that my whole life has been worth its outcome…and I always wonder what life would be like if I was a regular person with the ability to express normal human emotions…with the ability to show you the love you deserve."

"Is that what you've been all worried about this week?" Duo questioned, staring at him.

Still refusing to meet his eyes, Heero nodded once, sharply, staring blankly ahead as the movie began. They had chosen a romantic comedy. Great. That was all he needed.

"Don't worry about something like that, He-man." Duo half-pled, turning fully toward him and grasping his arm. "Trust me, okay? You love me real good, baby. I've never doubted your feelings – not once."

Heero shifted uncomfortably. "You deserve someone who can be as…expressive…as you are." He stated.

"He-man…you're plenty expressive." He swore. "Hell, I'm pretty damn sure that your expressiveness is what kept the neighbors up all night, not to mention me." Duo was clearly beginning to grow concerned and Heero felt a wave of guilt. He knew his lover hated it when he got like this. "Believe me, I'm plenty satisfied! I ain't goin nowhere."

Heero finally forced himself to glance at him, giving him a small, reassuring smile. "Don't you ever wish for more?" he questioned.

Duo gave him the incredibly cute frown he gave when he thought Heero was being silly. "When have I made lying a habit?" he asked, brushing hair from his lover's eyes. "Anyway, why in hell would I ever want more? I've got enough trouble just dealing with the you I already got my greedy little paws on – imperfections, fucked up emotional issues, and everything else that comes with the package. Including your package. And your tight little ass. I like that, too."

"Thank you, Duo." Heero whispered, more comforted than he could ever say. He turned back to the screen and tried to pay attention to the movie.

He should have realized that Duo would have latched onto the subject though.

"What do you think our lives would have been like if the war hadn't happened?" The braided boy blurted suddenly.

Heero frowned. "We would never have met." He answered honestly. Such a fate would have been hell.

"But what if we did meet – do you still think we would have fallen in love?"

Heero cast him an amused glance. "It's highly improbable that we would have met." He informed him.

"But if we did." Duo pressed. They were beginning to receive annoyed looks for all their talking.

Heero sighed. "Assuming that it wasn't the war which opened our eyes enough for us to realize and accept that we aren't heterosexual?" He asked. "Then yes, if we met then I am certain that we would have fallen in love. We're soul mates – if such a thing exists."

Duo's eyes were warm and full of adoration.

"Please can we go fuck in the bathroom now?" He questioned.

Heero gave an amused smirk.

"Hn."

Dumping their expensive snacks on the ground, Duo leapt from his chair and pulled Heero bodily to his feet, hurrying him toward the doors.

"I think that was the best movie I've ever seen in my entire life." Duo sighed, tucking his hands behind his head and taking a deep breath of the cool night air as he and his lover walked side-by-side down the…er…sidewalk. He stretched his hands out above his head before throwing an arm around Heero's shoulders, glad they had decided not to walk to the movies. The braided boy couldn't suppress a grin as, silent, Heero slid a hand into his back pocket and gave him a squeeze. "Hell," The chestnut haired boy continued. "I think we should buy the damn thing when it comes out on video."

"Did you even watch the movie?" Heero asked in monotone. "Do you even know what it was about?"

"Course not; we were busy distracting each other most of the time and got kicked out before it was half over. But that's not the point – the point is that I enjoyed myself."

Heero snorted.

"You wanna go get ice cream?" Duo asked abruptly, remembering the ruined sweets he had spilled all over the floor at the theater. Heero glanced at him a moment before giving a sharp nod, a small, rare smile on his lips.

As one, they turned the corner that lead to their favorite little ice cream shop, each perfectly in step with the other. The two knew each other's every thought, every move. Heero's earlier assessment was completely accurate – if soul mates existed, then surely that was what they were.

The drunk driver swerving along the street toward them didn't care about this little fact. He didn't, in fact, even see them as he decided that driving on the sidewalk would be a fun adventure.

And no amount of special training could really help one completely avoid a speeding car.

To Be Continued

Okay, I know the subject matter is a little trite, but I'm hoping I handled it well enough for a few people to want to stick around to read more anyway. Duo and Heero are one of my favorite couples in all of fandom, and I love writing them. Please review and tell me what you think – I'll post the next chapter quickly if there's enough favorable response.


	2. Alien Pajamas

I am so flattered by the unexpected amount of response this fic has gotten so far. I wasn't expecting so much until I was at least a couple chapters into it. And so, since I'm striving to be a more responsible author, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed at the time of this writing: Lun4r-flow3r, Lolly Sister, Mia, Hyperness, Pistachio, Keeosu, Rekkaboziegirl, Mimi, and Soltic. These nine are the only ones who had reviewed as of the last time I checked, which was 12:30 on Sunday afternoon. If you aren't mentioned, please don't be upset; I'll mention you next chapter!

(Bows deeply) Doomo arigatou gozaimasu, minna-samma

Not mine. If the gundam boys _were_ mine, I'd spend all day making them do all kinds of naughty things to each other.

Warnings: YAOI

Perfect World

Chapter 2

The ever-obnoxious sound of a blaring alarm woke him and he bolted upright in bed, swayed, and began searching blindly for the offensive device, shutting it off almost violently.

"Damn it, Heero, why the hell did you set the fuckin…." Pushing his bangs out of his eyes, he glanced down at his lover's habitual place beside him in the bed and stared for a long moment before he slowly began to comprehend that 1.) Heero wasn't there and 2.) He wasn't in the right bed.

The bed he shared with his sexy former soldier was a queen sized canopy that had been a gift from Quatre when the two former teammates had decided to move in together. It was always covered in wonderful silk, jewel-colored sheets of red, green, blue, or black and covered with an equally wonderful, thick comforter that matched any of the colors.

This bed was a twin, he thought, the mattress well-worn. The sheets were a flat blue flannel.

Duo scrambled backwards, falling from the bed and onto the floor with a painful thud, staring around him in horror. The room he was in was painted a painfully cheerful yellow, complete with blue plaid curtains to match the sheets on the windows. There was desk strewn with books and papers in the corner, and the walls were covered with posters for sci-fi television shows and movies. A poster of the elements hung above the bed. Worst of all, the room was clean. Heero kept their bedroom spotless, of course, but in the mornings there were always pieces of clothing scattered all around the floor.

And as Duo rose slowly to his feet he was forced to realize with even more horror that he was dressed in horrible black pajamas decorated with little green aliens.

Duo Maxwell slept in the nude or, at the very least, in boxers. Duo Maxwell did not wear pajamas.

"What the hell…?"

He jumped, spinning to stare as the door opened.

In the doorway, there stood…him.

It was almost like staring into a mirror, except this boy…the other him…his hair was short and cut in a shaggy style and he had the dignity of wearing boxers and an undershirt rather than dorky pjs. His build was slightly larger than the slight form that good ole Mr. Malnutrition had gifted Duo with.

And the boy was scowling – something Duo didn't like to do.

"Are you getting up or not, dorkface?" He demanded.

"Wha…?"

"Sam!" A voice called from somewhere downstairs. "Aaron! Breakfast!"

The boy in the doorway glared at him a moment longer before snorting, mumbling something under his breath, and stalking away. Duo rose on shaking legs and followed, unable to think of anything else to do. He had to find out where he was somehow – maybe he would be able to find answers if he followed his look-alike.

"Wait a minute." He called, tromping down the stairs after the other chestnut haired boy. He froze as he caught sight of what seemed to be a family portrait hanging on the wall. "What the hell…?"

"Sam! Catch me!"

Duo spun at the high pitched, childish voice, staring in horror as a little girl with blonde ringlets climbed onto the banister at the top of the stairs.

What kind of madhouse ?

"H…Hey! Get down from there!"

"Catch me!" She commanded again, spreading her arms wide.

"You're going to hurt yourself…stupid…" He rushed forward, only just managing to get there in time as the girl leapt, landing lightly in his arms with a happy giggle. Large eyes the same color as his own twinkled up at him merrily as he began to scold her for her behavior. Still giggling, she somehow managed to squirm from his eyes and rushed off through the same doorway his look-alike had gone through.

He stared after her, dazed, until a woman appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Her dark blonde hair, touched with streaks of silver, was pulled hack into a high, messy ponytail and there was a bit of flower smudged on her cheek. Her amethyst eyes – the same exact shade as his own – twinkled merrily in her warm and gentle face as she caught sight of him, the small laugh lines crinkling familiarly.

"Sam? Are you going to eat with your family or not?" She questioned.

Duo blinked. "You talkin' to me?"

"Who else, hotshot? Come on, I made your favorite." With a wink, she retreated back into the room.

Duo looked around a moment before shrugging and following. The woman was obviously insane, but free food was free food – and Duo liked free.

The room everyone seemed so keen on getting him to go into turned out to be a kitchen – large, bright, horribly stereotypical in the way of classic television families. A table was near the large bay window, laden with breakfast food, and at that table sat the Duo-wannabe and the little girl, along with a man with curly, chestnut colored hair and blue eyes. He and the Duo clone were sitting close, pouring over the sports section of the newspaper and neither even looked up as Duo took one of the seats around the table, turned it and straddled it, peering around the bright and too-cozy room with interest.

"How are you feeling this morning, Sam?" The woman asked as she sat beside him, placing pancakes on his plate. It wasn't until everyone was looking at him that he realized she had been speaking to him.

"Huh? Oh, um…fine, I guess." Confused as hell, actually, he corrected silently.

"Tony, put down the paper." The woman scolded as if she hadn't heard Duo's answer. "Everyone is at the table now, so we can say grace. Sam, why don't you lead today?"

"Huh?"

The man smiled kindly. "Go on, son. Say a prayer."

"Oh…" Duo frowned, thinking, as the others took hands and bowed their heads. He certainly didn't know very many prayers. Finally he decided to make up one. "Eh…dear…Shinagami…sir. Er…please let me die in a giant explosion or MS crash instead of something boring. And um…stay away from my buds. The end."

He opened his eyes and looked up, surprised to find everyone looking at him.

"What?" He asked. He thought he had done rather well, actually.

"Who's Shinigami?" The little girl asked, mouth carefully forming the unfamiliar word. Her mother quickly shushed her, pale and upet-looking.

"That isn't funny, Samuel." The man informed him sternly.

Duo's tolerance for craziness snapped. "Who the hell is Samuel, and why in hell do you keep calling me that?" He demanded finally. "I'm Duo Maxwell." At their blank looks, he decided to repeat it, more slowly. "Duuuuoooo Maaaxxwelll."

The man scowled, becoming angry as the woman paled even further and a frightened look crossed the little girl's face. "ENOUGH, Sam. You're scaring your mother!"

"I don't even know who you people are!" He yelled in response to the firm command. "For your information, I don't even have a mother!"

"SAMUEL!"

"Duo!" He repeated again, reaching to toy with his braid as was his habit when he was agitated. "D-U-O. Du…_holy shit_! Where the hell is my fuckin braid!"

"We do _not_ use that language, Saumuel!" The woman scolded.

He stared at her, dumbfounded, hand slowly falling from his horribly closely-cropped hair. "You freaks are serious, aren't you?" He whispered, horrified. He shook his head violently, standing. "That's it; I am _so_ out of here! Thanks for the breakfast, but I really need to be getting home before I'm missed."

"Sam!"

A hand grabbed his arm and he instinctively shoved his assailant against the wall.

"Leave. Me. Alone." He growled menacingly. No way he was going to stick around for his organs to be harvested or something.

"Oh Sammy! Oh, my poor baby!" The woman cried, seemingly unaffected by his threatening attitude. Her hands came up to cup his face, eyes full of what seemed to be genuine concern. "Look at me, sweetheart." She ordered as if soothing a dangerous animal. "Sammy – do you know who I am?"

"No." He answered rudely. "I thought we had established this already."

Suddenly she was hugging him, almost crushing his small body against herself. "Oh, my baby!" She cried. "Listen, sweetheart, you have to listen to me." She pulled away, taking his face into her hands once more and staring into his eyes. "You have amnesia." She informed him slowly. "Yesterday at your brother's baseball game you were hit in the head by a foul ball." Her large eyes filled with tears. "We didn't take you to the hospital because you swore you were all right."

"You are all fuckin insane." He whispered back slowly.

Her bottom lip trembled. "You don't remember _anything_, baby?"

He jerked away, desperate to get away from the care in her eyes, the concern in the faces of the others. "I remember just fine." He insisted defiantly. "I went to the movies with He-man, and then we were walking home and this car went onto the sidewalk, and…oh shit." He felt the blood drain from his face as dread suddenly filled him. "Where…where the hell am I?"

The boy who looked like Duo gave the kind of erratic, wild laugh that was a response to a situation he didn't know how to deal with. "You were at the movies with He-man?" He asked in disbelief. "That ancient cartoon character from Earth? Mom, he's having flashbacks from history class, that's all."

Duo glared at the clone. "I ain't talking about some damn cartoon, ya damn moron." He growled. "I was talking about my lover, Heero. Heero Yuy."

More laughter. Actually, even the little girl and the woman let out surprised bursts of giggles.

"Heero Yuy is a great man, sweetheart." The woman told him gently, unable to suppress a smile. "And we all appreciate what he has done for the cause of peace, but he isn't your lover."

"And he's much too old for you." The look-alike snickered. "This is so classic!" He laughed. "Dork-boy gets beaned in the head, and all the sudden he thinks he's some kind of queer."

"Quiet, Aaron." The man scolded.

"_Shit_." Duo groaned. "Shit shit shit shit…"

"Sam?"

"I think I'm gonna puke…"

To Be Continued

I have one problem with this fic, and that is that I can't remember what the explination was for how this happened. Anyone got any thoughts?


	3. Shinigami Goes to School

Here comes chapter three. So far I seem to be doing all right…I think. I've notioced that no matter what I try though, my scene dividers aren't showing up. They haven't really been needed so far, but I like to put them between the chapter and the Author's notes, because otherwise the beginning just seems so…abrupt. So between scenes I will be putting a single capitol Z and we'll see how it works. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'm going to try to update on Mondays, so we'll see how that goes for a while.

Many, many thanks to all of my wonderful reviews: Abyssinian (great name. Are you by any chance a weiss fan, or do you just like cats?), Random, Duos Deathscythe, Feanturi Dindel (You're on the right track there!), alonleyshadow, Lolly Sister, and Keeosu (Your reviews always make me so happy!) I hope that's everyone. If I missed you, please accept my most sincere apologies.

Warnings: Yaoi. Oh, and the space monster just ate the sun. Prepare for complete darkness in around eight minutes.

Perfect World

Chapter 3

Z

Duo stared numbly out the car window, in a state of dazed misery he had never imagined possible.

As soon as he could after breakfast he had searched the house until he found the family's slow, out of date computer and set to hacking into every government database he could think of, desperate to find the sadistic bastards who had kidnapped him…or something. He had long forgotten his reasoning.

According to the computer, it was the exact day after yesterday. Yesterday he had been with Heero, today he was in hell. It was the right date, right year, but…

According to everything he could find, the war had never happened past a few initial skirmishes. The original Heero Yuy had never been assassinated. The gundam scientists had long ago been tried and executed for "threatening the peace."

There was no record of anyone by the name of Duo Maxwell. Trowa Barton was a man he didn't recognize. And Heero…_his_ Heero…with eyes like glittering, fiery jewels and a soul burning for love…he had never existed. Duo found Quatre and Wufei…but those had been their real names all along.

And there were records…marriage certificates, birth certificates…dental and doctor records...old school report cards…all stating that Tony and Susan Hunt were the parents of Samuel, Aaron and Gracie Hunt and for all appearances he _was_ Samuel.

Almost the worst blow of all was the discovery that he was on the same L2 colony he had grown up on.

He had still been staring in terror and despair at the computer screen when the woman, Susan, had found him and scolded him gently, insisting he get up and get ready for school. He doubted she would have been able to read the encoding anyway, but he had nevertheless closed all the windows so quickly he was fairly certain he had crashed the equipment.

It was possible, he mused, that he was in a time when the war hadn't happened…or at least his mind was. His body was probably in a coma somewhere and his mind was trapped in a dream based on the conversation he and Heero had had before the accident.

After all, according to records Tony had been an army doctor and Susan a nurse (it was, disgustingly enough, how the two had met.) Duo's mind could have easily made this up, knowing how in the early days of the war the medical bases were often targets. Either could have been killed very easily, leaving their orphaned children to raise themselves in the war-torn colony of their birth. Aaron could have died of hunger or disease or something while Sam survived to become Duo. It was all very convenient, very rational – his mind searching for answers. After all, when he was a child Duo had often dreamed up such scenarios to explain why he was alone. He was orphan because his family was dead, not because they hadn't wanted him.

A too-cheery voice broke into his brooding.

"Cheer up, Sam, I'm sure you'll get your memory back soon."

He rolled his eyes, tired of trying to convince his "mother" that she was a figment of his imagination. "I still say I shouldn't have to go to school." He grouched. Talk about making a bad situation worse.

"Now, Sam, you love school." Susan informed him. "Besides, I'm going to talk to the principal and make sure all your teachers know all about your little problem. I made you a doctor's appointment for right after school, and we'll find out how to fix you then. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Unless the team decides to stuff him in the garbage again." Aaron snickered from his seat in the front of the "family van."

Duo scowled, turning his attention back out the window. "They can _try_." He mumbled, confident that he could handle any trouble from some bully sports team. His real concern was how big his ego must be, inventing an extra one of himself. What did he need with a _twin_?

Duo tried to concentrate on the fact he was in a coma somewhere, hoping to wake himself up, but all it did was make him worry about Heero.

Really, he wanted to cry.

Z

"No one knows the answer?" The teacher asked with a sigh. "No one at all? All right, Samuel, why don't _you_ tell us. I'm sure you, at least, know how to diagram this sentence."

Hearing someone address him by his imaginary name, Duo drowsily lifted his head. He was being called on in class? That was a new one. Teachers in the _real_ world knew better.

"You want me t' do what?" He asked flatly.

"Diagram this sentence."

"Diagram it yourself, y' old bat." He mumbled, laying his head back down.

She blinked a few times, clearly confused. "Excuse me?"

Burying his head in his arms, Duo shot her the bird and cheerfully set to continuing his nap, ignoring the whispers and the idiot teacher's nervous fluttering. The young ones never did know what to do when shown blatant disrespect. When the bell rang he got up with the other students but left his books in his desk – wasn't like he'd be using them anyway.

He napped through each of his classes until lunch, changing locations with the ringing of the bells. At lunch he cut to the front of the line, charmed his way into receiving extra fries, and chose a table in an out-of-the-way corner where he could watch people and no one could sneak up on him.

He had barely sat down when a tall, angry looking boy with a flat, ugly face approached followed by a few girls, two rather large, burly boys, and Aaron.

"You're in my seat, runt."

He offered the group a wide grin and suggested that their leader bite him.

"What'd you say!"

"Something wrong with your hearing?" Duo asked lazily. "I said you could bite me; I ain't getting up."

The boy's face grew an unattractive shade of red and he lunged forward toward Duo, stopped abruptly as Aaron grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"Come on, man." He hissed. "It won't hurt anything for us to sit somewhere else today; I told you Sam has gone a little crazy and !"

"A little brain damage doesn't make a man crazy, mister figment of my imagination." Duo interrupted, sliding out of the booth. He had to stand up on tiptoe to look into his challenger's face, but he thought he Heero-imitating glare should still work just fine. "And you. Why don't you stop acting like some spoiled child and find something _important_ to do with your life?" He suggested, annoyed. "There's a _hell_ of a lot more to life than high school, and much, _much_ more than where you sit at lunch." He punctuated "lunch" with a jab to the boy's face, secretly hoping they would have to fight. Once he had the chance to prove himself, then no one would dare challenge him. "And, you know, if you would have asked _nicely_, then I would have gotten up right away. But you didn't, so guess what? I'm staying put."

A low, bovine-like sound came from the boy's throat, and Aaron tightened his grip on him.

"Nate…_don't_!"

Jerking free, the boy took a wide swing at Duo, his momentum pulling him into the table as the small former pilot easily dodged his clumsy attack. As the would-be bully rounded on him for another embarrassingly clumsy attack, Duo caught one of his arms and pulled it around behind him as he dodged yet again, twisting it painfully and effortlessly until the boy cried out. Duo could feel stares all around him, and the cafeteria had gone strangely silent, but that was just fine. Better to get his message out quickly – Do. Not. Mess. With. Duo.

"You see what happens when you don't play nice?" He demanded, his voice carrying in the unnatural quiet. "Even the braided baka gets pissed sometimes, neh? Now, I suggest you apologize and so to find someone else to irritate, and it wouldn't be wise for you to attempt shit like this again. I've got more than enough experience protecting my turf t' be intimidated by an ass like you."

"_Bastard_…" The boy managed.

Duo twisted the arm a little harder until it was just on the verge of breaking. "Do you really wanna be so rude when you're in the position you're in? I mean, I can seriously injusre you if you _insist_, but I _was_ planning on just…letting you go. Show Shingami some respect or pay the price, you understand? Now apologize."

"I…I…"

"Say it, bitch!"

"Mr. Hunt! Mr. Trailes!" A sharp, authoritative voice snapped. "_What_ is the meaning of this?"

Aaron was suddenly, unexpectedly at his side facing down a very upset looking teacher.

"My boys were just having a little fun, Mr. Macley." He told the teacher quickly with a smile Duo knew all to well. It was the smile that kept Wufei from killing him every time he dyed his ponytail pink. "Rough housing, you know. Male bonding?"

"I don't wanna bond with _him_!"

"Shut _up_, Sam."

"School is no place for such behavior." Mr. Macley scowled. "And _Samuel_! I never expected such behavior from _you_."

"I ain't no fuckin doormat."

Aaron gave a loud and nervous laugh in an attempt to cover up the naughty word. "Don't listen to old Sammy, Mr. Macley! He's not himself today, you know. Gone a little crazy, that's all."

He appeared to think about this a moment. "Very well." He said finally. "I'll let it go this time. Just see that this kind of disturbance doesn't happen again."

"Yes sir!"

Z

To Be Continued

Okay, that's it for this chapter. Short (sigh) yes. I can't help it – it's some kind of mental block. I hope the chapter was all right though…please don't give up on this fic!

Please please PLEASE review! I have very low self esteem! I need your input!


	4. Red Cars and Trips to the Doctor

Where to begin? Well, in keeping time with my new "try to be a better author" kick, I'm going to fight every instinct I have and make this chapter longer. I hope everyone likes it. I was a little afraid that since nothing steamy is going on right now no one would want to read this, but it seems to be going fairly well so THANK YOU ALL! To address the most frequently asked question without giving too much away…it'll be a while before Duo's Heero shows up. That's not to say there isn't an "alternate" Heero – he'll be along shortly, I'm sure. Anyway, separation angst is always fun.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Dark Avalon, Soltic, lun4r-flow3r, duos-deathscythe, Lestat'sLover, lolly sister, Rei Megami, Abyssinian, Memina, ahanchan, and KuriQuinn. I haven't been able to check my reviews since Friday afternoon, so if I missed you, please accept my apologies – I'll include you next time!

Warnings: Yes. I do own Gundam Wing. I work in a fast food restaurant for _fun_. And yes, Heero and Duo are a couple. Get over it.

Perfect World

Chapter 4

Z

"Psst!"

Someone had decided that throwing paperwads at his head was a good way to spend time.

"Psst! Sam-u-al! Psst!"

"Fuck off…" He mumbled.

"Sam! Pay attention!"

"Don't wanna." He grumbled grouchily, burying his head further within his arms. "Wanna sleep. Sleep is gooooood."

Behind him, Aaron poked him savagely with the eraser of his pencil right at the base of his spine, causing him to sit up and send a searing glare back at his pretend brother. The look-alike refused to acknowledged what Duo had thought was a fairly good imitation of Heero's death glare, instead settling back in his chair and crossing his arms, eyes darting to the oblivious teacher.

"You're a good student, Sam, but you have trouble in Japanese class because you also take Russian and Spanish and you tend to get all three mixed up." He informed him quietly, barely moving his lips. He was tense, afraid of being caught by the teacher. Several students were watching them in curiosity already. "Dad said that if you don't keep your language grades up he's going to pull you off the chess team and take away your library card for a week."

"Boo hoo. Don't care. Leave me the hell alone."

"But _I'm_ supposed to be tutoring you!" He hissed, leaning forward urgently. "Just because I went to prom with a Japanese girl freshman year. Sheesh." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "If you don't ace this class with your usual ninety-eight, then _I'm_ going to be in deep _shit_."

Duo blinked rapidly a few times, then sat up straight, unable to fight the rather mad grin that spread across his face.

"Did you just say a naughty word, Aaron?"

"The other boy flushed darkly. "I'm _sorry_, but this is _important_." He stated.

Sighing heavily, Duo turned back around in his seat, raising his hand. "Sensei?" He called in his innocent, you-don't-want-to-hurt-lil-ole-me voice.

"Hai, Sam-chan?" She smiled.

He pouted, holding his head in his hands. "Guai ga warui desu." He informed her in his best tone of misery.

She made a sympathetic sound, then turned back to the class, explaining that "poor little Sam's" head was still hurt and everyone needed to be very quiet so they didn't make his headache worse. Duo smiled, thankful for all those late-night Japanese lessons from Heero as he laid his head back atop his desk. His soulful-eyed lover had insisted on him learning the language and become reasonably fluent. The bastard had used sex against him, refusing to do _anything_ other than tease him in bed until he properly recited _all_ of his vocabulary words.

Duo hadn't really expected his lover's sadistic little bondage games to come in handy past the moments of sublime satisfaction that had followed the so-called study sessions.

He sensed eyes on him as he began to doze off, heard the whispering of the students as the teacher returned to her lesson. As he closed his eyes, he allowed him mind to dwell on Heero, his beautiful, strong Heero. His friend. His lover.

Was Heero also in a coma somewhere, dreaming insane dreams? Was he lying in a hospital bed nearby? Or sitting by Duo's own bed, waiting and watching him with that intense gaze of his – willing him to wake?

Maybe he was sitting beside him at this very moment, holding his pale limp hand tightly in both of his own, worrying obsessively as he did everything obsessively. Duo imagined that when he opened his eyes, he would be back in reality, back with the one he loved. He saw Heero's eyes as he woke. Heero's eyes – the only part of him to show emotion, as if the rest were carved from granite. Thos eyes would fill with relief and love as he watched Duo awake at last, and his soft, wonderful lips would descend upon Duo's own in a heartbreakingly gentle kiss. Duo would begin to cry as Heero pulled away, telling him softly of how worried he had been…

The bell rang loudly, ruining his fantasy, and Duo let forth a very unhappy groan, blearily lifting his head. He was, unfortunately, still in this insane world he had created. Reluctantly he rose, letting his dream fall away.

"Since when do _you_ know Japanese?" Aaron hissed, following Duo as he sauntered lazily down the crowded hallway.

"Heero taught me." He answered grouchily, scratching his head and missing his braid. Why in hell had he dreamed himself without the damn thing? Even if there was no need for it in a world where he hadn't grown up alone and poor, he still liked it. Damn logic, taking away everything that made him feel safe and happy.

Aaron looked at him with that disbelieving, half concerned half amused look people often gave the insane. "Heero Yuy, your fantasy lover?" He snickered doubtfully.

"That's right, " Duo scowled, unable to see anything but vibrant prussian eyes. "My _fantasy_ lover."

"You actually believe your own shit, don't you?"

Duo shot him a half-hearted glare. "Don't push me, imaginary brother. Real or no, I won't hesitate to kick your ass." He sighed, pulling out his schedule and trying to figure out where the destination of his next nap was. "Where the hell is room 46B?"

"I'm worried about you, dorkface." Aaron said quietly.

Duo stared at his schedule for a moment before looking up at him imaginary twin, feeling very keenly that the admission had been difficult for the other boy. Sigh. Now his imaginary friends had _depth_. Damn it. "You're what?" He asked flatly.

"Don't get all weird on me!" He snapped crossly, looking away. "It's just…super freaky seeing you like this. I mean, I always thought you needed more confidence, but _this_ isn't what I meant. You're so loud and coarse…and when you smile…it isn't real anymore. It's like…it's like you're covering up emotions with other emotions…ones you don't feel. It frightens me."

Duo stopped, staring at him. Only Heero had ever realized he did that.

"I'm your twin, Sam. I know you better than anyone. We don't get along all the time anymore, but we both know that once school is over and gone, we'll still have each other." He mumbled uncomfortably, true concern and brotherly love in his eyes.

Duo stared at him a long moment before giving an abrupt, rude laugh. "Damn I'm good." He decided, beginning to walk again.

Aaron hurried to catch up.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean making up all this fuckin' detail when I'm fuckin' unconscious." He answered without bothering to look at his imaginary brother. "This story would make He-man laugh for _hours_! I am so royally fucked up it's fuckin' hilarious!"

"Stop it, Sam."

Duo glanced at him with what he knew was a slightly insane grin. "Wanna skip the rest of the day?" He suggested.

"Samuel Hunt? Suggesting skipping _school_?" He asked in disbelief.

"_Duo Maxwell_ suggesting skipping school." He corrected. "Yes. So? You in or out? We can get back before Susan comes to pick us up – wouldn't wanna miss my doctor's appointment, would I?" Still Aaron didn't look convinced. Duo laughed. "Come on, I thought I had invented you to be a badass."

"I'm a jock, not a rebel." Aaron said helplessly. "Besides, the parking lot has cameras, and we don't have a ride anyway!"

Duo knew his grin grew even more mad as he watched fear fill his "brother's" eyes.

"Leave it to me."

Z

"Stay here a minute; the camera's swingin' back this way, but its angle is all wrong for catching us as long as neither of us moves an inch."

Aaron stared at his twin, whose own amethyst tinted eyes were locked on a tiny camera set high atop a streetlamp in the student parking lot of the school. "How do you know how to do this?" He blurted finally, unable to stop himself. Sam had gotten them past every hall patrol teacher and coach, not to mention the in-school cameras and the single security officer without incident.

Samuel had always been the smarter of the two, Aaron was not afraid to admit. The boy was nearly a genius. But his tastes ran more toward chess, ufo sightings, studies, and science fiction literature. He didn't even play stealth video games, and all the sudden he was an expert? Sam was shy and scrawny, but most kids liked him anyway because he was a nice person and he knew funny jokes. He was the kind of dork that jocks tolerated – only bullying once in a while – and girls considered "puppy-dog" cute. Adults adored him, younger kids looked up to him, and everyone expected him to be rich and famous when he grew up.

Now Sam was…different.

Loud and rude and confident and coarse yet somehow charming – he had walked right past the assistant principal with a 'hey, how are you?' and hadn't even been asked for a hall pass. It was almost as if…as if Sam was a completely different person.

"You think this is a big deal?" Sam laughed, not taking his eyes from the camera. The laugh was wild and bitter. Sam had never been bitter before. "I was breakin' into OZ bases by the time I was seven – this ain't nothin'! This is like…" Another insane laugh. "Like using a gundam against a kid with a slingshot."

"What's a gundam?"

"Nevermind. Look, when I say go, you run like hell to that red car. It's gonna be our ride."

"You know the owner?"

"Nah, but we're just borrowing it. We'll return it before school's over – even fill up the tank with gas. It'll only take me a few seconds to hotwire it." He cast him a slightly teasing, sidelong look. "You're not going to turn chicken on me, now are you?"

"No, it's just…isn't this illegal?"

"Hell yeah. But it's not as if any of this is real, anyway, imaginary bro…And even if it was, it wouldn't matter. I got a record that could encircle Earth _all_ the colonies seventeen times over." He snorted. "War crimes my ass."

"We're a little too pretty for jail, Sam…"

He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Jail might be fun." He decided. "I happen to enjoy a little man-on-man action…but Heero _would _be pissed if I cheated on him so you're right, we should avoid getting caught."

"Oh, that's right. You think you're gay. Sorry, I forgot."

"Bi actually, not like it matters because the only one I'm really interested in is Hee – okay, go now! Red Car! Go! Move your ass!"

Aaron lurched forward at Sam's rather rough push, staring as his brother sprinted across the parking lot to the rather flashy car he had chosen to "borrow." After a second of hesitation Aaron decided he had to follow – he would surely get caught without Sam's expertise. He settled into the passenger seat just as Sam was starting the engine.

Sam glanced at him, eyes large and wild, grin splitting his face. "Hold on t' your butt, buddy boy, you ain't seen _nothin_' like this!"

Z

"So right there, right in front of everybody, Heero just self destructs. BAM! Doesn't eject first or anything!" Duo tapped his hands on the steering wheel in time to the beat of the song on the radio. "Now, this is way before we got the hook-up, of course, cause there's no way he'd willingly do something like that with me to come home to, but man was it disturbing to watch it happen, anyway! Of course he didn't die; he's one stubborn son of a bitch, I'll tell you that!" He laughed, pulling smoothly into the parking spot the red car had occupied before he had decided to take it for a spin. "Tro took care of him until he was recovered. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different had I been the one to take him, you know? Would we have fucked sooner? Would he have gotten sick of me? It's an interesting question, you have to admit. Tro's with the Q-man now, of course, and that's just fine with me except I can't pull any pranks on him cause Q gets _scary_ when he gets cranky…that reminds me…it's about time I dye Feifei's stupid little ponytail again…it's hard now, you know, since Heero and I moved out of Quat's mansion, but I think - ."

"Don't you ever stop talking!" Aaron finally exploded. He was pale and traumatized looking after their little outing. Good.

Duo laughed. "Hey! You do a _great_ Wufei impression! Are you _sure_ you don't know him and this all isn't some elaborate prank designed to make me go insane?"

"Sam! Please! Stop! Talking!"

"Duo." He corrected with a scowl. "I take pride in my name. Chose it myself. So please, don't make me kick your ass." He slid smoothly from the car and began making his way toward the school, the sound of the final bells ringing faintly in ears accustomed to listening for alarms. He leaned against a wall and grinned at his fake brother, crossing his arms. Damn he was tired of "Happy Baka" mode. "I don't wanna be anyone but Duo." He announced.

"Sam…"

That was pity in his voice. Damn. "What?" He demanded, suddenly cross. "Damn it, what?" The feelings of loneliness that had plagued him all his life swung back full force, only now there was no understanding lover to chase his demons away with coldly spoken yet heartfelt words of love.

"You're scaring me."

Duo snorted softly to himself, the darkness nearly overwhelming him. "You should feel lucky, imaginary bro." He told him. "Trust me, reality blows." Except when you had a cozy apartment and a soulful-eyed young ex-pilot waiting there got you to wrap you in warm, strong arms…

Damn.

"It's just some freaky amnesia, Sam." Aaron said gently, perhaps seeing the despair cloud his face. "Mom will take you to the doctor and then everything will be all better."

"Bah." He snorted, fingering his shorn hair. Didn't even have the damn braid for comfort anymore.

At last Susan's minivan pulled up in front of the school. Ignoring Aaron, Duo quickly climbed into the front seat and propped his feet up on the dash.

"How was school, boys?" Susan asked brightly.

Duo grunted, turning up the radio.

"Sam?"

Duo caught sight through the rearview mirror of Aaron shaking his head in warning. Susan didn't press the subject.

"Any chance of a family vacation on L1?" He blurted, unable to stop himself, as they pulled from the parking lot.

"Why L1?"

"Heero's from L1…"

"Sam…"

He scowled, angry at himself for even mentioning it. Of course they wouldn't cooperate. It was his own lousy luck that he had no control over figments of his own imagination. "He exists here somewhere." He insisted. "He _has_ to. I _need_ him."

Susan pursed her lips, but wisely decided not to comment. Duo decided as a reward for this bit of thoughtfulness, not to take his sudden and rather violent depression out on her, instead turning his attention out the window.

As they came to a stop at a red light, something caught his attention and pushed his dark thoughts to the back of his mind. It was a large building, familiar, although in much better repair than he remembered. He quickly memorized the address and made a mental note to carefully watch on the way back "home" so he would be able to find it again.

The light turned green.

Z

"What can I say, Susan?" The family doctor asked helplessly. "Sammy here is in perfect physical health. There's a slight sign of head trauma, but certainly not enough to warrant this erratic behavior. And never in my experience have I heard of a case of amnesia in which the victim thinks that he's someone else with such vivid detail."

"Are you going to do a brain scan?" Duo sighed. He despised doctors. "Make sure I'm not crackers?"

"Well…yes. I'd like to." The doctor stammered uncomfortably.

"Would it help if I told you that I've had two cat scans a year since I was twelve?" He asked hopefully.

"Nevertheless…" The doc coughed. He decided pretending Duo couldn't underhand what he was saying would be much easier and directed himself back to Susan. "I've made an appointment for Friday."

"But that still wouldn't offer any explanation for where all those scars come from!" Susan protested, tears in her eyes. "And my baby has never had muscles like those!"

"And Sam used to be a little taller." Aaron said quietly.

Duo glared. "Let's do a blood test." He suggested through clenched teeth.

"That isn't necessary. I can't explain the differences, but this boy _is_ Samuel Hunt."

"No, I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I'd never tell a…ah, screw it. Can I put my clothes back on yet?"

Z

To Be Continued

Okay, that's eight pages, and I usually only do six. That's as far as I go today.

Why does Duo still have his own body but not his hair? (Shrugs) I dunno.

REVIEW!

If you review, the next chapter will be over six pages, too! Please?


	5. Maxwell

Just look at how good I'm being! I'm getting an early start on this just so I can have a nice and long chapter for all of you! Love me yet? (Cute pouty face inserted here.)

Thanks go out to: lun4r-flow3r, DarkAvalon, ahanchan, duos-deathscythe, Shru (Sorry, I just always picture Duo swearing. Plus, I want him to contrast with "Sam."), Lestat'sLover, Hikaru, Soltic, Sobakasu, lolly sister, xxkurenaixshixx, Souri Maxwell Yuy (Hmm. Good question…) and Jess-eklom (Great ideas, I may use some of those…)

Once again, please don't be upset if I missed you.

I have nothing against Duo's braid – in fact, I prefer long hair on my men. But, like Heero, it won't be returning any time soon. (Both will eventually, I assure you! I can't have Duo living without either!)

Warnings: I own nothing that you can sue me for. I would love to claim that gundam belonged to me; however I must report that Santa failed again this year to bring me the bishis I yearn for. Other warnings? Yaoi, although not much of it at the moment. Language…an alternate reality where nothing is as it should be…evil minions of evil…

Perfect World

Chapter 5

Z

It was exactly as he had always imagined it would be had someone actually cared enough to see to its upkeep. Tall and majestic in the way all its kind somehow are, just the sight of it brought tears to his eyes. Those tears spilled over his cheeks as, disbelieving, he began to take the stairs he knew so well up to the large, polished oak doors. This had been his haven, his sanctuary, his home.

Maxwell church.

He'd had no idea his mind had been kind enough to place the home of his imaginary family so close to the oasis that had saved him from an early and unkind childhood death. He supposed it made a kind of twisted sense when he thought about it; his family had to have lived somewhere near his old neighborhood purely because it was unlikely that when he began to live on the streets he would have been able to wander far from home.

Yet still, the bustling, sparkling downtown that the church sat right in the middle of bore almost no resemblance to the dark and dirty wasteland he remembered.

The church itself was heartbreakingly bright and beautiful. Painted a pristine white, it's large windows covered in colorful stained glass rather than cheap ply boards and duct tape. The graveyard to the side was green and lush, the flowers there and on the front walk well-kept and lovely, as if someone spent hours at a time on them…loving them.

Duo entered the church slowly, reverently breathing in the wonderfully familiar scent of books and incense and candles…that churchy smell that had never left him throughout all the years of terror and blood and despair. The pews were the same dark and beautiful works of art, though well-polished and covered in thick crimson cushions that had been sacrificed in Duo's childhood to be used as bedding. The ran his hands over the smooth wood as he passed down the center aisle, crossing himself as he hadn't done in years as he sat in the pew that had "belonged" to him and the other orphans.

It was too quiet, too peaceful and familiar. He could almost hear Sister Helen's gentle voice as she told him and the other children bible stories. He could almost feel her arms as he sat safe and warm in her lap. Caught between the urge for laughter and tears, he leaned his head back against the pew and closed his eyes, remembering the feel of hands in his hair as Sister Helen braided it for the first time as Father Maxwell stood before him, gently telling him that though it seemed cruel now, all of the suffering in the world was for a reason – part of God's plan – and the reward for those who suffered and persevered would be great.

"I don't believe in god!" He could hear his younger self protesting. He smiled to himself as he mouthed the words from the past. "If there is a god, then he must be the god of death!"

He hadn't let himself think about that in years.

"Is something troubling you, my son?"

For a moment Duo thought he had imagined the gentle, wonderful voice. Then his soldier instincts kicked in and he realized with a start that there was someone standing nearby. His eyes snapped open as he sprang to his feet, spinning to face the elderly man in the black robes of the clergy who stood at the end of the pew.

"F…F…!"

He smiled that deep, warm smile that had soothed away nightmares and inspired hope in children who life had taught to trust no one. "Is something wrong, my child?"

"Father Maxwell!" He finally managed, throwing himself into the arms which had held and comforted him through dark nights of hunger, sickness, and despair. The tears he had been fighting since first stepping foot into the church overwhelmed him, and he found himself unable to so much as speak though the violent sobs that were suddenly shaking his small, seemingly frail body.

Z

"Are you sure you wouldn't like more tea?"

Duo smiled. He had been unable to _stop_ smiling since he had finally stopped crying. "I'm not really a tea person, father." He admitted.

"Ah. Well, very well then." The kindly priest returned the smile, placing the tea pot back down and leaning back in his chair. "Well, Duo," He began, tone careful. "I must say that your story is unlike any I have ever heard before."

Duo snorted, happiness only slightly dampened. "Please don't tell me I'm crazy. I know, I know, it sounds psycho…and I certainly have every right to go bonkers…but I'm not. I'm really not."

"Of course you aren't." Father Maxwell sounded as if the very idea were insane. "As incredible as your story sounds, it stirs something within me. I cannot help but think that with as much detail as you have told me, and as deeply as you believe, there has to be truth to this tale. There is too much emotion involved for it to be mere fabrication." He tapped his chest with his index finger, eyes warm. "My heart tells me to believe you, and it is the heart which I tend to want to believe."

Duo heaved a great, relieved sigh, finally loosing that last bit of tension that had been placing pressure on him since he had woken up in this twisted world.

"You don't know how good it is to hear you say that."

"I have more to say, child." The priest warned gently. "You see, although I believe your story, I cannot believe that I and all around me are mere figments of imagination brought to life by head trauma."

"Then how the hel…" Duo bit his lip and grimaced. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had most decidedly disapproved of the street kids' inclination toward cursing. "Look, I don't know any other way to explain it." He said finally. "If you have any ideas, I'd be more than happy to entertain them."

"I don't know what to tell you, Duo," He admitted, shaking his head, "Except that you should see this experience as a gift from God. He wants you to be happy."

"Great. He's doin' a great job. I'm fuckin' _thrilled_ to be here."

"Duo…"

"Sorry. I…sorry."

"Duo, you have a rare and beautiful chance that most trauma survivors never receive." He said gently, leaning forward to take Duo's hands in his own. "You get to see peace as you never knew it. You get to live in a world without war."

"I prefer my own crappy world, thank you." He said softly, looking away. "It may suck, but at least there I have Heero."

"Ah…yes…" The priest shifted uncomfortably. "Your…lover."

"I know the church doesn't approve." Duo said defensively, hunching his shoulders as he prepared to defend his love at all costs. "And you certainly didn't raise me to even take that kind of lifestyle into consideration…but…I love Heero. He means everything to me…he's all I've got, and I'm all he's got, and if it wasn't for him I would have let myself die long ago."

Father Maxwell smiled. "Some say that true love can never be wrong, my child." He stated finally, as if revealing some great secret. "I tend to agree with them."

Duo stared at him for a long moment before giving a relieved sigh, relaxing once more. He had always wondered what his old mentor would say, although he had always sworn that his response wouldn't change his mind about his feelings for his fellow pilot.

"I should have known you'd understand." He breathed.

"I'm only sorry that you missed Sister Helen. She's off visiting her aunt on another colony…I can't wait to tell her everything the next time she calls though."

"I can't wait to see her again." Reluctantly Duo stood, looking around the quiet chapel with a deep feeling of peace. "I guess I need to get back for supper before my imaginary family starts to wonder where I am. I was only supposed to go down to the gas station for a gallon of milk."

Father Maxwell frowned slightly. "You shouldn't lie, Duo."

"I didn't. I'll get the milk on my way home." He grinned. "Look, I…there's no way you can ever know how much it means to me to be able to see and talk to you again. You…you're just like I remember you."

"Perhaps you would like to come by again sometime and see the children." He suggested, also rising.

"That would be great!"

"Have a safe walk home, Duo."

He stopped, looking around the sanctuary a moment before turning a grin on the man who had raised him.

"_This_ is my home, father."

Z

"Gotcha." Duo mumbled, grinning to himself as a picture of a rather familiar brunette filled his computer screen. He had skipped all of his classes, instead spending his day in the school library on a computer trying to track down the other gundam pilots.

Finding Wufei and Quatre had been so very easy, but then those two had had lives and families that they had time to remember before the war took them away. Heero and Trowa were different stories. He had gone through the files of all the school systems on every L1 and L3 colony, relying on his natural luck and computer skills to keep him from spending days or even weeks searching.

But now that he had found them all at last, it was only a simple matter of creating an "exchange" program for his school and putting his friends into it. If he made it sound good enough, then there was no way their parents, or whatever imaginary families he had placed them with, would think twice about letting them go. He could even redirect some funds from his school to help pay for it. (Hmm. The principal was stealing funds from the coke machines…how interesting. That could prove useful.)

He had to see his friends, be around someone who knew who and what he really was once more. He was going insane without them.

It should only be a matter of weeks before they arrived, plenty of time for the councilor to find suitable homes for them to stay in. Of course Duo would be volunteering his own for Heero – or as he was called here Rai Mirikitani. He would have his lover _and_ all the steamy sex back. Yes.

Duo smiled wickedly and arched his fingers, leaning back in his chair. _Excellent_. He thought in his best Mr. Burns voice, snickering at his own joke and dorky love of classic earth cartoons. Throwing back his head, he attempted an evil cackle, stopping only when the librarian's glare reached Heero-level.

Love of classic earth cartoons and fear of little old ladies. That described Duo Maxwell perfectly.

While he had been searching for his friends, he had also kept an eye out for news in this new crazy world, only slightly surprised to find that Relena and Zechs existed here as well. Both still went by Peacecraft, and had never been known by any other name. Zechs still went by Milliardo and was the scandal of his kingdom with all his romantic escapades. Relena, on the other hand, was almost never in the lime light – but really, who could blame her parents for wanting to keep such an odd girl from the public eye?

He stretched before leaning back toward the computer, deciding to see if he could find anyone else he knew.

"You know, they _do_ take attendance. You're going to get caught."

Duo nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the feminine voice right by his ear, utterly ashamed that he had let someone sneak up on him. His happy thoughts about his friends had distracted him far too much.

"Huh?" He asked intelligently, turning to face the sneaky sonofabitch. The girl was fairly pretty with curly hair of dark honey and emerald eyes.

She smiled in a friendly, confident way. "You don't remember me, do you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side like a curious bird. "I heard you got amnesia. Tough break. Love the new goth look by the way?"

"Huh?" He asked again, glancing down at his clothes. "Oh, I'm not goth, I just like black." He squinted at her, trying to decide if he knew her. It was possible, even likely he would be running into some of his old street buddies while off in lala land. But no, he decided suddenly, he hadn't met her before. "Do I have class with you or something?"

"A couple." She laughed. "I'm Terry, by the way."

"Nice t' meet you, now, go away."

She laughed again. Her laugh was a little annoying, he decided, and she snorted often. "That's rude, but you look too cute saying it, so I'll let it go." She announced, peering over his shoulder. She laughed a third time as he quickly closed the window. "And so secretive, too! So tell me, do you want to go see a movie Friday?"

"With you?"

"Well, we already had plans, you and I. But since you don't seem to remember anybody you knew before, I thought that maybe, just _maybe_ I should reconfirm."

"Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Great!" She agreed, socking him in the shoulder. "See ya then, then, bud."

He watched until she was completely gone before he reopened the window.

He still had work to do.

Z

"-So the shrink was completely charmed by my ginormus wonderfulness and gave me a clean bill of health and a really kick ass cookie and poor little Susan doesn't know what the hell to think now cause she can't think of any reason that makes since to explain why I seem to be lacking in the sane department!" Duo finished his story with a laugh, shoving popcorn into his mouth.

"So what could it be, then?" Terry asked, interested. She had seemed a little miffed at him when they had bought their tickets and snacks, but now that they were in their seats she seemed to have cooled off. Why she had been mad he had no idea; he had let her buy all of her stuff first, after all. Girls were weird. "Do you think you're in a different dimension?"

"Don't be stupid." He sighed. "This is all a very annoying hallucination, obviously."

"Excuse me, are those seats taken?"

Duo looked up into the sky blue eyes of a brunette boy with a busty blonde at his side and smiled at the pair.

"Help yourself." He grinned, watching as they slipped past into the open seats – some of the last left in the packed theater.

"Are you checking that girl out?" Terry hissed after they had passed.

"Are you crazy?" He laughed. "Sure, she's pretty cute I guess, but her boyfriend is much prettier."

"Huh?"

He could barely suppress a grin. Apparently his imaginary persona of "Sam" wasn't out of the closet yet. "Shh, the lights are goin' down." He said instead of answering. Discussing ones sexual preferences with strangers, while promising some definite entertainment value, could get rather tiresome.

By the time the movie's previews were nearing their close, Duo was beginning to feel slightly sick. Every single movie advertised was full of pointless violence with little to no plot to support it and people fighting for causes that made no sense whatsoever. Since the war, that kind of movie had gone out of fashion – stores didn't even like to sell them and so they were rather hard to find. Duo had never seen one, and he had no desire to.

He was wondering if he could get his money back when the feature movie opened with a spray of gunfire and very unrealistic bloodshed. He abruptly decided he didn't care about the money; he just wanted to leave. He turned to tell his companion so, deciding it was rude even by his standards to walk out on a friend without a word of explanation.

"Terry," he began quietly, not wanting to disturb the other viewers.

"Oh Sam!" Slim, feminine arms wrapped tightly around his neck, his only warning before lips were pressed to his own, breasts pressed against him over the arm wrest, strange perfume in his nose. Terry took advantage of his surprise, slipping her tongue into his partially open mouth.

The kiss was fumbling and too eager, completely lacking in the careful control and exquisitely slow exploration of Heero's kisses. (Heero being the only person he could remember kissing, he had nothing else but his lover's sweet perfection to compare this experience to.)

He pushed her away, disgusted.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" He demanded, voice going shrill.

"What's the matter, Sam?" She purred, fingers tangling in his ridiculously short hair.

"What's the matter?" He echoed, grasping her arms so tightly he knew he was hurting her but couldn't quite bring himself to care. They were already beginning to earn annoyed looks. "_What's the matter?_ Terry, I'm _taken_!" He took a few breaths, trying to calm himself, but to no avail. "I have someone who I love dearly – with every fiber of my being – and here you are _sticking your damn tongue down my throat!_"

She stopped struggling to get out of his grasp, eyes going wide. "Sam," She said slowly, "I'm your _girlfriend_. We…we're _supposed_ to make out."

He stared at her a long moment, disbelieving. He had forgotten how…stupid…regular teens his age were.

"You don't even realize how important things like kissing and sex are, do you?" He asked finally, dropping his voice in the hopes of not involving anyone else in the packed theater in their discussion. "You're just some damn kid pretending to be a grown up. You have no idea…!"

"Sam!"

He shook his head furiously, rising. "I'm outta here."

"Sam!" She shouted, following him from the theater even as he began a slight jog. When he reached the parking lot he finally stopped, turning to face her, and so she stopped as well. "Why did you agree to go out with me if you weren't interested?"

"I thought you wanted t' be friends, not…!" Duo let out a near-scream of frustration. "Damn it, Terry, I have a boyfriend!"

Her face went pale.

"A…a _boy_…?"

"Yeah," He answered bluntly, deliberately cruel due to his annoyance with her. "A boyfriend. The best damn thing to ever happen to me. Sexy, smart, sweet, and one hell of a good fuck. So you tell me – why would I give all that up for some stupid, immature school girl?" He demanded. "You're wasting your time." He realized guiltily that she looked hurt and tried to soften his voice. "I think maybe it would just be better if you didn't even hang around me at all, you know?"

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "The amnesia, Sam. The amnesia did this to you; made you think these things, that's all."

"Go _home_, Terry. You don't understand. You _can't_ understand. So leave me alone, before I get mad."

Z

To Be Continued

Another long (for me) chapter. Yippee! But the last chapter had the highest number of reviews yet, so I figured you all deserved it. Go ahead, throw yourselves a party…or seven.

I really didn't want to skip right from the library scene to the movies, but it was the way I had originally written it and I couldn't think up a good "filler" scene. So…oh well. I couldn't stop, after all, Because I'd promised longer chappies.

Sigh.

Anyway, I think this last scene is interesting, when compared with Duo's activities the last time he had gone to see a movie.

Eight and a half pages, not half bad. Took me three days though, so please show your appreciation and REVIEW.


	6. Exchange

Wow! So much response! What can I say other than…thank you. I am honored you all chose to spend your time reading this!

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed: DarkAvalon, Hikaru, dk-joy, ahanchan, memine, lolly sister, jess-eklom, Lestat'sLover (Take a midol already! Sheesh!), Meg-of-the-Moon, Shinotenshi (Cute name), xxkurenaixshixx (giggles. Funny response…), Pretty Drowned Rat, Ellen, Foxy-Comic-Death, and Ink 2.

Very special thanks to Hazardess, who reviewed chap 4 sometime after I had checked my e-mail. Forgive me for missing you!

Wow, I was really surprised at how many people seemed to feel sorry for Terry! I guess it's about even with people who want to rip her head off for daring to touch Heero's property though…(Yes, I said property. Duo belongs to Heero. But, Heero belongs to Duo in turn, which makes it all right. Erm…this is the way my mind works…) Truthfully, I was considering waiting until next week to post, but I got so many reviews that I decided to move my lazy tail.

Warnings? No, I don't own it. I am not getting paid. Sigh. And gas prices are so high! Other warnings? Language. Yaoi (although not much at the moment…). Scary pink bunnies…

Perfect World

Chapter 6

Z

Susan looked up from whatever she had been doing as Duo slammed in through the kitchen door, all huffy and home much earlier than either of them had expected.

She made a comment on it, concerned. She asked if everything was all right, and Duo wasn't sure if he would rather laugh, cry, or break something. Maybe all at once…? But that would be kind of crazy, wouldn't it?

"Terry thinks she's my girlfriend." He said finally, plopping down into a seat at the table across from her and sighing heavily. "What are you doing?" He asked, taking in the small yellow box and neat piles of magazine clippings splayed out in front of his fake mother.

"Trying to find a recipe for Sunday dinner." Clearly sensing he didn't want to talk about his date, she returned to her task. "Do you know what you're wearing to church? Give it to me and I'll iron it for you."

"Figures you'd be a church goin family." Duo groaned, scrubbing his hands through his hair and feeling suddenly very tired. "Hell."

"What?"

He cleared his throat and grabbed a pile of clippings, shuffling through them. "Where do you…I mean we…go?"

"There's a little Baptist place nearby we've been going to for years." She answered, sounding as if she was shocked that he didn't at least remember _that_. "Don't…" She hesitated. "Don't you go to church?"

"I kill people." He snorted. "So…no."

"Oh…" She didn't know quite what to say about that. She did, however, seem rather saddened by his answer. "Well…"

"I don't suppose you would mind trying somewhere else?" Duo suggested hopefully, brightening at a sudden idea.

"Somewhere else?"

"If you don't want to, I could go alone, even!"

"I wouldn't want you going alone…" She mumbled. Finally she gave a decisive nod. "All right, we'll go to your place this time, Sam."

"Really?"

"Anything you want, honey. We've always supported your right to make your own decisions."

"Thanks…"

"And as long as we're talking about your right to make decisions," Her eyes hardened with resolve, which she tried to hide by going back to her work. "Why don't you tell me about your lover?"

She tried to make her voice light, but Duo could hear the waver. The fear, the verging tears.

"Listen, Susan, you don't have to…"

"No." Her voice grew slightly stronger. "No, I want to know. So tell me…how did you meet?"

"Well…we fought together during the war."

"Oh?" She asked, trying without much success to sound casual.

Duo frowned, considered claiming sleepiness and making an escape, but then stubbornly decided to continue. She had asked, after all. Stupid…imaginary…

"Yeah. But we've only been together maybe half a year, I think? Course, I wanted him the first moment I saw him, but the same can't be said from his position. He claims it was the same, but I know I kinda annoyed him…"

Z

They had both been completely silent for nearly half an hour now, and Duo was getting a bit antsy. Yet he couldn't bring himself to speak; Susan was too close to tears, and he couldn't bear to make women cry.

"How could you have so much violence in your head, Sam?" She asked in a soft, terrified whisper. "How could you have so much pain and death and…and…" She shook her head, refusing to look at him. "My little boy could never talk like that. He could never…"

"Well…I'm sure you and Tony raised Sam real good. He probably never had a need for anything else…" This was insane. They weren't real. Why…

Why did he feel so guilty?

"But your eyes, Sam." She shuddered. "You're eyes are different. They're an old man's eyes…they're so…"

"You gotta grow up fast where I came from, mom." He said softly, feeling his own emotions swell. She looked up at him in surprise at the use of the "m" word and he shrugged helplessly. "There's no such thing as a real person. Everyone looks like I do; everyone's seen just a little too much – even the civilians. So many people had to grow up in filthy alleys eating garbage…so many died, nameless there. And the ones that survived envied them when they watched the cleaners come to take their bodies, because at least they were being touched…because no one would touch the live ones…they smelled to bad; no one wanted to see the children under the dirt and stench…"

"Sam…"

"Duo. Just say it once. Please."

Refusing to look at him, she stood and began to gather her recipes. "I think it's time you got to bed, Sam. We both have a busy weekend in front of us…"

"Susan…Mom."

She shuddered. "Good night, Sam."

Z

"Did you know _this_ was what he had in mind?" Tony hissed, not taking his eyes from the black clothed priest standing before the congregation.

"If you're asking if I knew this was a Catholic church, Tony, then no. I didn't."

He shot a glare past her at their son, who sat with his head leaned back against the back of the pew and his eyes closed as if in sleep. "He isn't even paying attention!"

Susan hesitated. "But I haven't seen him this peaceful since before the accident…"

Tony Hunt settled back uncomfortably, clenching his fists and biting back his complaints. He was not the type of man who was comfortable with the ideas of others, and by the time the service was finally over he was more than ready to be done with the place. Almost impatiently he nudged Grace, who had fallen asleep as children so often do.

"Come on, sweetie, it's time to go." He whispered, voice just barely tainted with his anger at his son. He turned briskly to his wife as his daughter stirred and blinked owlishly up at him. "Let's go." He hissed in Susan's ear, taking her by the elbow and leading her out into the crowd making their war slowly toward the doors.

Sam leapt up after them, bounding through the crowd without a care as to who he jostled and apparently unconcerned with how rude it was to appear to be so eager to leave. Aaron took his time in following, stretching his arms out lazily above his head.

By the time the family reached the doors, Sam was already there, talking excitedly with the amused-looking priest.

"It was so great, father Maxwell!" He was saying enthusiastically. "Just like when I was growin up. I swear, I almost cried. Just a little, you know?"

The priest laughed warmly. "Why Duo, I imagine you - ."

"Sam, we're leaving." Tony interrupted, taking a firm grasp on the boy's wrist.

The fragile, almost feminine boy twisted out of his grasp with ease. "Not yet, ya bastard; can't ya see I'm talking here?"

"You must be young Duo's father." The priest smiled, extending his hand to the now very irritated Mr. Hunt. "How nice to meet you at last. I am father Maxwell."

"He raised me." Sam interjected proudly. "Right here in this very church!"

Tony blanched, cold fear settling deep within the pit of his belly as it did every time he was forced to look at the evidence of his son's recent bout of mental illness. Why couldn't they just ignore it? Why couldn't Sam just…take something…and be Sam again? The boy's shyness and unique nature had been a little annoying at times, but now he was sorely wishing for his dorky, quiet, sweet little boy.

A long silence stretched as he glared at the priest and ignored the offered hand as the dazzling smile on Sam's face slowly began to fade.

"Well, he did." The chestnut haired boy grouched quietly to himself.

Susan cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Father…Maxwell, was it? We simply _must_ have you for dinner sometime. I just know our Sam would enjoy it."

"Susan!"

The priest's eyes sparkled as he let his hand drop, resting it instead on Sam's shoulder as Tony fought the urge to grind his teeth. "Perhaps sometime. Yes, that would be nice. In the meantime, I do hope you will allow Duo to come and visit me; I do so enjoy our little chats."

"Just let them try to stop me!" The small brunette said defiantly.

Something was tugging on his sleeve and he glanced down into the sleepy eyes of his only daughter.

"I'm hungry." She complained with that wonderful tactlessness of children.

Scooping her up into his arms, Tony gave the priest a falsely apologetic smile and slipped past, making his way to the car at last. Sam followed, walking backwards and swearing to do everything within his power to come back and he grinned broadly at the dark clothed man.

What in hell was wrong with the boy?

Z

Tuesday afternoon, the school's authority figures finally figured out that he had not gone to one of his classes in…well, several days. As his punishment, he was to have detentions after class for the remainder of the week.

Big fuckin deal.

At least, that was what he had thought. Until he had learned that the first of the school's exchange students would be arriving on Friday at precisely 3:25 pm.

"Come on now, I'm only trying to show my school spirit!" Duo begged as he doggedly followed the assistant principal down the hallway. He was pretending to be allowed to attend the girls' volleyball game being held during final period.

"School spirit?" He snorted. "When you don't attend class. This makes sense to you?"

"Come on, have a heart!"

"Keep this up and I'll ban you from _all_ school activities, Hunt."

"What can I do to prove myself?" He asked, tone pleading. He had a small recorder in his pocket just in case the man said something inappropriate; that had happened before – and proven very useful – but he doubted the round, balding man beside him had it in him. "I know. Let me be the mascot! I can…what _is_ our mascot, anyway?"

"_Hunt!_"

"Or I can be a cheerleader!"

"A cheerleader?"

"Yeah! Anything, man! Except, you know, something humiliating like school ambassador society or something."

"Samuel Hunt, you _are_ in the ambassador society."

"Me? No, you're pulling my leg!"

"You are Sam. And you were rather good at it – before all of this…nonsense." He stopped, looking angry. "It was very irresponsible of your family to endanger a fine academic mind like yours at something as common as a ball game!"

"I truly hope I can one day return to myself, sir." He answered with false solemnity. "I'm sorry for skipping class, but everything is just so confusing! I…I'm frightened, sir."

The principal's expression softened.

Bingo.

"I'm not a bad guy, sir. And you know I'm no delinquent. Please, tell me something, _anything_ I can do to prove myself to you! I…I want to get better…sir."

Z

Aaron sighed heavily as he turned his test paper over on its face, hiding the blaring red 72 written just below his name as if the teacher had taken a particular pleasure in writing it. Stretching, he glanced over at his brother's test, pleased to see that, for once, Sam's paper was covered in angry red marks just like his own. At the top was a large, thick 47.

But it was marked out and beside it…beside it was a 95.

He leaned forward, snatching the paper from his twin's desk and staring at it.

"Guess Susan will be proud, huh?"

"How did you do this?"

"What? Make an A? Guess I'm just smarter than you, man."

But you missed over half the problems!"

"Oh that!" He gave one of the wild, insane grins that Aaron had been forced to endure ever since his brother had gone insane. "The principal had a little talk with my teachers about my grades. No sense in letting my GPA be ruined just because I'm taking a vacation into the land of the less-than-sane, now is there?"

"But…"

"That's right, imaginary bro. I could answer every question Cheese and still make a good grade. Man. Must suck to be you, huh? Must be hard to live up to my shadow. You poor, poor boy. Good thing you don't exist, huh?"

"Sam…"

The bell rang and Sam sprang to his feet. He complimented their teacher on her dress as he eagerly left the room.

"Sam, your homeroom is the other way!" Aaron hissed, quickly catching up to him. Other students were hurrying to their own homerooms, eager to have role taken so they could then file into the gym for the game.

"Not goin."

"You can't skip _again_!"

"I'm not. I'm leavin for the spaceport." He answered breezily in a tone that said clearly that he thought Aaron was an idiot.

"The spaceport? But…"

"Someone's gotta welcome the new exchange students."

"The Ambassador program? They're still letting you do it? But you're…"

"Yeah, I never said it was a good decision on their part." He shrugged. "Anyway, Susan's comin to pick me up and we're gonna meet the guy's host family at the 'port and welcome him to our fair colony." He rolled his eyes. "You gotta take the bus home – did I forget to tell you? Oh, and fix Gracie's after school snack for her." More cheerful than Aaron could remember seeing him since his bout of insanity, he playfully spun the lock on his locker, grabbing his jacket from inside. "You might as well get used to it – I'm gonna have three other trips like this after this one…"

"Sam…Sam!"

Whistling, his twin breezily pushed open the school's front doors and strode out into the sunlight.

Z

To Be Continued

Not that long; only about seven pages, but I had to stop here because of pacing. Sigh.

Gee. I wonder who Duo's going to pick up? Hmmm.

The more of you who review, the sooner you'll get to find out!


	7. Surprise!

I have always seen Duo, predictably enough, as hiding everything behind a childish, annoying appearance – the much clichéd _mask_, if you will. It's the same in all of my GW fanfiction (not that most of you know this, seeing as how this is the only one I've posted.) I tend to have certain rules for characters that are the same no matter what the storyline, and this is one of Duo's. Heero is the only one who has ever realized the full extent of Duo's mask, or how deeply it goes – although I've always thought that Father Maxwell understood it. The annoying Duo is a protective outer shell that grows thicker the more vulnerable he is feeling; so the more abrasive he acts, the more threatened, depressed, or hurt he's feeling. Because Heero's very presence is comforting to him, he often acts as a calming agent and Duo doesn't act nearly so childish around him. (Dark Avalon, _you_ know what I'm talking about…heh heh.)

Thanks go out to everyone who reviewed: Jess-eklom, dk-joy, Shru, Lestat'sLover, Shinotenshi, ahanchan, Nolwe the Lady Dragon, Soltic, xxkurenaixshixx, duos-deathscythe, lun4r-flow3r, Katsume18, Pretty Drowned Rat, Me, Geminidragon, DarkAvalon, Ink2, and kcgal.

Most reviews per chapter yet! Thank you!

And to lun4r-flow3r, who I missed last chapter.

Standard disclaimers apply. Try to sue me and I will send the evil purple monkeys of doom after you. Complain about the yaoi elements and I will send the evil purple monkeys of doom after you. Annoy me in any way and I will send the evil purple monkeys of doom after you.

Perfect World

Chapter 7

Z

The spaceport was noisy and crowded with people coming and going. Vacations, business trips, honeymoons – all disgustingly normal. Frankly Duo was bored with it all. He had always hated spaceports, anyway. All those people, just waiting to turn up their noses at him. Complain about the dirty, smelly child holding the tin can as he clung desperately to Sister Helen's hand, trying to get some donations for the church…

Duo shook his head, simultaneously shaking off the bad memory. He grinned wildly, enjoying the spark of weariness the action caused to flare in his imaginary mother's eye. Yes, yes, she was getting used to him; beginning to be able to read him.

The host family for Duo's friend stood nearby, smiling and chatting happily amongst themselves. He had chosen them specially, knowing that they were the type of people who would work best for his fellow pilot. The mother was a kindergarten teacher, the father a cop. The son volunteered at animal shelters and nursing homes. It was sickeningly sweet.

It was perfect.

At the announcement of the arrival of the ship, their group moved forward toward the gate, watching eagerly for the arrivals to begin to come out. Duo bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, peering over shoulders as he anticipated the return of his friend.

Everything was coming back into place. Everything would soon be back to normal. One by one he would have his friends back – even if they were just illusions created by his mind – apparently to keep him entertained during his coma. (Of course his mind would work like that. Boredom would have driven him insane, he decided.)

Anyway, he forgave his mind its insane world.

Everything would return to normal and –

Duo almost didn't recognize the boy who stepped from the terminal first in line. He…

He was _chubby_.

A little taller than he should have been, chubby, and extremely tanned, dressed in a perfectly tailored white suit. A mouth that Duo had trouble picturing without a smile was turned downwards into a neat, displeased frown and, as he pulled expensive black sunglasses from his face, his normally friendly blue eyes coldly passed over him without recognition.

"Mr. Winner!" The host family mother called eagerly, waving. (Why couldn't Duo remember her name?) "Mr. Winner?"

He blinked, looking almost disgusted as he ran his eyes over the group before finally sighing and striding over.

"_You're_ who I'm staying with?" He drawled in a bored tone, clearly displeased. He gave another, much put-upon sigh, glancing back at the ship's entrance as if contemplating going back home.

"Mr. Winner, sir, I'm Theresa Buckley." The woman said eagerly, nervously running her hand through her home-dyed red hair, charming plastic bangles on her wrists clattering. "And this is my husband Mark and our son Simon. You'll be staying with us. Welcome to L2!"

"Yes, yes, fine." He sighed, rolling his eyes and ignoring the hand offered him by Mark Buckley. "I hope your driver has the car waiting out front!" He announced, striding past the group with his chin in the air.

"Yo, Quat, wait up." Duo called, hurrying to follow. He stared at the blonde boy as he, in turn, looked him up and down with obvious displeasure, taking in the ripped, faded jeans (Duo had "fixed" them just that morning) and the tight black turtleneck with a sneer.

"Did you lose a fight with a rabid bunny?"

"Haha, very funny. Listen, man, do you know who I am?"

"Hopefully not my personal assistant." He turned and gave Duo one of the blinding smiles he remembered, but it was different. Insincere. "You understand, don't you? I do have a reputation to keep up. If you want to work for me, that's fine, but you will have to dress appropriately."

"Quat, it's…I'm Duo. Duo Maxwell."

He dissolved into a fit of giggles. "What kind of name is that?"

Z

Aaron munched lazily on a bowl of unsalted microwave popcorn, hating it yet too hungry to stop. There was nothing else in the house to be used as snack food. (He hated it when his parents decided to go on diets.) Disinterested, he flipped through the channels on the television, only half listening as Grace, beside him, fumbled through her library book for reading practice. Sam was better with the homework help, anyway.

Nothing to eat, nothing on the tv. Could life get any worse?

Hearing a car pull into the driveway, Aaron quickly switched the channel from some mindless cartoon to the news and turned in his seat so that he was facing Grace and it at least looked like he had been helping.

The door slammed open and Sam stormed him, furious about something.

Good. About time something went wrong for the cocky bastard.

He glanced at the tv and grinned as a dignified looking man approached a podium amid cheers and flashed of photography.

"Hey Sam!" He called laughingly. "Your boyfriend's on the news. Gonna make some kind of speech. Let's see, Heero Yuy speaks out against – oomph!" He spun in his seat, glaring, but Sam's back was to him, looking for all the world as if he hadn't just thrown a book at him and successfully hit him in the head.

Grace giggled.

Z

Monday was a rainy day. Duo had spent the weekend in his room with the door locked, moping because things were _not_ going according to plan. Quatre had been different…strange…at the space port. Duo had tried to call him several times over the weekend and was told "Mister Winner is not currently accepting calls."

If Q, the pilot most like a younger brother to the orphaned, attention-craving Duo, was so very different, what would the others be like? He hadn't really expected any of his teammates to know who he was, but he never expected them to be so different.

Unbidden, images of a Heero who wasn't the Heero he loved came to mind. He had expected to be able to seduce the imaginary version of his lover and get at least some semblance of normalcy returned to him…but what if he couldn't? What if Heero was so different he wasn't interested?

Duo pictured a red-necked, homophobic Heero, and nearly cried.

Searching for his friend within the stranger, Duo wasted no time in tracking Quatre down Monday morning. He had already fixed it so all the "exchange students" would share his schedule, and it was a simple thing to take initiative and, acting as he thought "Sam" would have, requested to be the new students' guide at the new school.

"I'm sure it'll help me get my memory back!" He had said in a disgusting, sugary voice.

Quatre didn't improve over the course of the dreary, rainy day. After he had discovered that Duo's likes and language were more "common," he had begun to thoroughly ignore him. In fact, he refused to talk to anyone but the best dressed, and those who did all they could to kiss the ass of one of the richest boys in the colonies.

By the end of the day he was in a horribly pissy mood, and seriously regretting every tracking down his friends.

Unfortunately, he had already invited Quatre to come home with him. When he watched the boy he had considered the sweetest, kindest being in the galaxy turn his nose up at the homey, charming Hunt home, he had almost succumbed to the urge to kill something.

By the time Susan called them to dinner, Duo had lost his appetite.

"You have another student to pick up tomorrow, Samuel?" Susan had asked after an awkward silence following a comment from Quatre over how common and cheap chicken was.

"One would think, for company, a little extra work would be put into a meal…"

"Yeah, tomorrow." He answered moodily, stirring around his vegetables on his plate. He really didn't feel like seeing any more of his "friends."

"Another exchange student?" Quatre asked, flushing. Of course he wouldn't want any attention diverted from him toward another. His lips twisted into a petulant scowl. "How utterly _charming_. Samual, you will take me along with you, won't you?"

"Like hell I will you rotten little prick."

"_Samuel!_"

He jerked his head toward his "mother" at her outburst and felt a surprising stirring of guilt.

"That is _uncalled_ for!"

"But - !"

"We'd be happy to let you come with us, Quatre." Susan smiled, ignoring Duo's protests.

"Thanks so very much." He smiled, eyes glinting at the formerly braided boy in triumph.

Duo scowled and returned to his peas.

"Tell us, Quatre, what is L4 like?" Tony asked, shooting Duo a warning look. "I've always wanted to go there on vacation."

"Oh, you couldn't afford it, I'm sure!" The blonde laughed. "Unless you want to dip into Samuel's college fund – I daresay you won't be needing it, Samuel is obviously not the right caliber for _higher learning_…you _have_ put money back for college, haven't you? The expense can be quite difficult for a family of _limited_ means if they are _unprepared_, you know."

Duo positioned a pea on his fork.

"My father has a scholarship program set up for those less _fortunate_." Quatre continued, smiling at Duo. "You'd be _perfect_ for that, Samuel. I can even put in a good word for you."

Duo returned the smile and flicked the pea. It hit the blonde square in the forehead and had been mushy enough that it stayed there. His smile became a grin as he watched the disgust and horror fill the rich boy's countenance.

"Sure, thanks a lot, Q."

Z

Quatre and Duo squabbled all the way to the space port Tuesday afternoon; Quatre subtle and biting, Duo unabashedly rude. Susan was pale and drawn as they walked through the parking lot, caught between disciplining her son and supporting his returned rudeness toward the spoiled brat.

Quatre – the real Quatre – had earned Duo's eternal trust and respect within the first few moments of meeting him. The fake, imaginary Q had lost it in the same amount of time. Duo was still having trouble equating the happy, wonderful boy he had admired so much with the mean spoiled blonde that had taken to following him around insulting him.

He was terrified of what he would find when he met his other friends.

Would they all be like this?

He looked at the host family for the newest exchange student, pitying their excitement over the arrival of a new boy. He already felt sorry for sticking those other nice people with the evil Quatre and now he was hurting another family with another alternate, evil version of a boy he had once admired.

"What's this guy's name?" Quatre drawled boredly, still sulking that no one wanted to stop at a gift shop and buy him some gum as he had wanted them to do.

"Triton." Duo scowled. "Triton Bloom."

Z

To Be Continued.

Short and late. I know – I'm horrible. But I have a valid excuse. I'm having pacing problems! I don't want to do too much or else it will be horrible…I would make this chapter longer, but I really like this ending. Please forgive me. Please review.

I do not hate Quatre – I love him. I want to pet him and squeeze him.

"Then Kit-baka, why did you do this horrible thing to him?"

Because, dear readers, it so amuses me to.


End file.
